Saturday, March 03, 2007

Are you ready for an insane patience trying contest? I'll be launching my year in advance predictions later this month... and I'm also giving YOU the chance to predict the Best Actress race as part of the longest contest ever.

Since "Best Actress" is the official preferred category of The Film Experience it's the ideal choice for this sort of experimental group fever. Entry details and prizes to be announced next week.

From what I've heard about Evening, Vanessa Redgrave is supporting. I've spoken to a few people who saw advanced screenings and they said almost everything is about Danes, and Redgrave is basically like Gloria Stuart in Titanic. Also, they said that Glenn Close should be a major Best Supporting Actress contender.

Start taking Danes more seriously. She's given excellent performances in poor or underrated films in the past few years and has managed to stay on the Oscar radar. However, she's failed to make it into the precursor race. With a baity role in a major film with an outstanding cast and crew, perhaps this will be her year to shine.

OOOOOH! I forgot about Laura Linney. I hope she gets some attention this year also. and about Houndoug, I don't think that she has much of a chance, not because of her performance, but because of the content of the movie. I doubt, if the academy wasn't very receptive about Brokeback, it'll go for houndog

I can not believe that more people aren't even mentioning Marion Cotillard for her performance in La Vie en Rose. She may be French, but wait 'til the Oscar sluts take a whiff at this performance. Also, no menion of Julie Christie in Away From her? Believe me, the critics will go berserk for these performances.

Isn't Redgrave in Atonement - this sounds like serious Oscar bait - and I think she is the lead in that - Some critic predicted it wil all come down to Kidman in Dark Materials versus Blanchett in Golden Age - love em both but I bet Blanchett scores for the Todd Haynes Dylan biopic

Anon, definitely agreed on Atonement. I reckon it'll snag James McAvoy an acting nod and possible even Keira Knightley if they play their cards right. Redgrave is strong too, methinks.

Ed, I'll be predicting Cotillard. Yeah, she's French, but with another possibly strong year for the best actress category, they may choose to swing that way. At the moment, she's got (in my mind) more of a chance than people like Katherine Keener and Ashley Judd (in very genre films) or Angelina Jolie (will be get herself out there to market it or is she too busy saving Vietnemese babies?) or Cate Blanchett (sequel, nominated last year).

The Blanchett one is interesting. Yeah, she deserved to win for Elizabeth so there may be some pay-back by nominating her, but, again, in a possibly strong year for this category will they go for a 10-year-later sequel?

Oh, and Brenda Blethyn (which you have a picture of) won't be much of a factor I reckon. Clubland is an Aussie film and I doubt (considering the track record lately) that it will make much of a splash.

Am I the only one that sees Blanchett as one of those contenders that everyone predicts because it looks good on paper but by nomination time it's one of those performances that barely gets nominated or isn't altogether?

That's actually the case with most of Blanchett's leading roles anyway recently.

yeah charlotte I agree. Sans Elizabeth she doesn't have the luck she has like she does in her supporting roles.

My guess for the reason everyone is saying she's actually going to win is because ALOT of people are still bitter about her losing for the first film. I mean yeah you got the same cast, director etc. but if you look at the big picture there are MANY ways that this could really suck even if Blanchett is good.

At this point I'm a little warry of predicting her but for the time being until I see more contenders pop up, she's on my list.

Laura Linney in The Savages got great reviews out of Sundance and Fox Searchlight said they would give it a late-summer release ala Little Miss Sunshine.

Similarly, Away from Her garnered Julie Christie great reviews in Toronto and Lions Gate held it over to May, according to one spokesperson, to mirror their Crash timetable. The impression I got was that she was lead, but then I'm yet to see it.

Plus Marion Cotillard in la Vie en Rose fits the ubiquitous "real person" slot. All these seem good bets since they've been seen AND reviewed. Two are prior nominees and, while Cotillard is French, she's at least familiar to American audiences (well, the 10 people who saw A Good Year, that is).

part of what the first Elizabeth had going for it was that it was a fresh - almost contemporary look at historical drama - and we also had the first major performance by Cate - Golden Age won't have those factors in its favor - but - it features a fine cast - and also has different themes than the original - the Holy War theme and the ageing theme - which allows Blanchett to craft a totally different performance - and yeah - 8 yrs later people are STILL talking about how she was robbed - I also think the presence of Clive Owen in the film is a plus - this guy has got to break out as a major soon - COM surely positioned him for a best supporting actor nod this time round -

I wonder if One of the reasons we tend to see the same people always mentioned is that Oscar is obviously not just about the film performance but about the for lack of a better term - the red carpet performance - how one goes about in the conducting of an oscar campaign - Blanchett - Kidman and perhaps Paltrow all seem to understand that all the oscar campaign stuff - including the red carpet - is a performance too - a audition as it were - for your next nomination - and those three woman sure do know how to pull that performance off -

This may sound stupid, but... won't the "queen factor" play against Blanchett next year? I mean, how many Queen of England roles can the Academy reward until it can say enough? Especially two years in a row...

Everyone is forgetting the return of hear-me-roar Miss Jane Fonda...."Georgia Rule" - she'll be on the Oscar list. Nothing like a big comeback! "dysfunction...buried Family secrets / ties the bind"!!! Too yummy for words!!! Calling Allied, I need preview tickets. Could Lohan be supporting???

Georgia Rule follows a rebellious, uncontrollable teenager (Lohan) who is hauled off by her dysfunctional mother (Huffman) to spend the summer with her grandmother (Fonda). Her journey will lead all three women to revelations of buried family secrets and an understanding that - regardless what happens - the ties that bind can never be broken.

Ironically, "Georgia Rule" sounds very "On Golden Pond"-ish. Sassy, uncontrollable kid spends summer w/ an oldster to learn heartfelt lessons of life. Sounds as if Jane will be "Norman" this time! Felicity will be "Chelsea."

"Closing the Ring" directed by Richard "Ghandi" Attenborough. Starring Shirley MacLaine. In 1943, A dying gunner, who was in a crash involving a United States B-17, gives a ring to a local to return to his girlfriend in the USA. Fifty years later, a man finds the ring and tracks down the girlfriend and the history of this ring. Set in Belfast and North Carolina.

This is supposed to be kind of epic-like. Maybe lead nomination for Shirley MacLaine?...and a long overdue nomination for Christoper Plummer as the guy who tracks her down???

raaj, don't get me started on those bloody LOONS! "THE LOONS!" hilarious

"i'll say jolie, simply for the fact that she's EVERYWHERE, everyone loves her, and she's got a role the likes of which even the best of actresses have never recieved. it's hers."

Jolie seems almost allergic to giving press these days and I don't get how this role is unlike any other. Although she is playing someone of a different race, but she's not uglifying herself. Hmmm. lol. I can't believe she's playing a character of a different race.

what about the unknown chubby gal who is going to be in "hairspray"? that character won the tony award for whomever was in show that year. Will Travolta be up for best actor in "Hairspray"??? I would assume "Hairspray" is going to be kind of frothy & fun summertime entertainment....not a big award winner, ala "Chicago." Maybe "Best Song"...I'm sure there's a new song they're thowing in the movie.